Arizona State tabs Indiana's Tracy Smith as new baseball coach

The Sun Devils have tabbed Indiana coach Tracy Smith to lead their program.

Smith, 48, was with Indiana for the last nine seasons. He led the school to 49 wins and its first ever College World Series appearance in 2013. He was named the NCBWA Coach of the Year that season for his efforts.

"His accomplishments and accolades on the field speak for themselves, and his career has been defined by class, dignity and integrity," Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson said in a statement. "He will be a great fit within the ASU family, our baseball community and our current student-athletes, and we can't wait for the new era of Sun Devil Baseball to begin under Tracy's guidance."

Smith's Hooseirs won 44 games in 2014, but saw its season end at the hands of Stanford in the regional round. In all, he compiled a 287-235 record at the school, including a 127-111 mark in Big Ten play.

Prior to coaching at Indiana, Smith was the boss at Miami (OH), his alma mater. He led the Redhawks to a 317-220-1 mark in nine seasons, reaching the NCAA Regional in 2000 and 2005.

In his playing days, Smith was a 39th round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs in 1988 and played in 206 minor league games over the next three seasons. Smith hit .201 with a home run and 47 RBI with Class-A Geneva, Peoria and Winston-Salem.

Smith is replacing Tim Esmay, who resigned earlier this month after the Sun Devils went 33-24 and lost their first two postseason games. In five seasons under Esmay's tutelage, ASU went 201-94-1, won a conference title (2010), advanced to four NCAA Tournaments and made one College World Series appearance.